This invention pertains to barber shop and beauty parlor equipment and more particularly to a cushion to cover the neck-receiving, U-shaped notch in a shampoo bowl conventionally found in such locations, thus protecting the neck of a patron from the hard surface of the notch.
Various devices are known in the art for cushioning the neck of a barber shop or beauty parlor patron from the hard surface of the sink bowl while the patron is having his or her hair shampooed. Five such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,161,590 issued to Rickard; U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,903 issued to Gilmer; U.S. Pat. No. 327,452 issued to Swatzell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,408 issued to Rhodes; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,032 issued to Lewy.
The devices disclosed in these patents include neck rests for use at home (U.S. Pat. No. 2,161,590), neck rests for use on the flat surface of a sink bowl (U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,452), and neck rests for use with neck receiving notches commonly found on commercial shampoo bowls (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,948,903; 4,385,408; 4,411,032). The latter patents disclose a neck rest with a detachable water-resistant cover (U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,408), a neck rest that fastens to the neck of the user (U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,032), and a neck rest with multiple layers bonded together so as to cushion the neck of the user while simultaneously preventing the neck rest from becoming saturated with water.
The plethora of neck protection devices extant in the art is testament to the degree to which customers of beauty parlors and barber shops wish to have the backs of their necks protected from the hard surfaces of shampoo bowls. Proprietors of barber shops and beauty parlors are anxious to accommodate their patrons' wishes in this regard, but desire to do so using an inexpensive, simple to use, readily sanitized, and reusable device, if possible.
A significant problem that accompanies the use of neck protection devices in conjunction with shampoo bowls is that they easily become fowled with various chemical preparations used in the treatment and styling of hair. This inventor has found that if a neck rest is capable of absorbing water, it will become stained from these chemical preparations after minimal use, even if careful attention is paid to cleaning the device after each use.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive water-repellent neck cushioning device to protect the neck of a barber shop or beauty parlor patron from the hard surface of a particular style shampoo sink, that being a sink in which the bowl walls do not contain extensive horizontal surfaces projecting outwardly from the top thereof, but rather contain U-shaped neck-receiving notches typically located on the front of the bowl.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a neck cushion which is effective, simple to use, and easily removable.